Solaris
by Renarien
Summary: Sentinel was hiding more than just his betrayal...
1. Chapter 1

This takes place some months after the events of DoTM - so yes, there are or will be spoilers in it.

And as usual, I own none of the well known characters, only Solaris. And who is that? Well, you will have to wait and see, wont you? ;)

Solaris.

Prologue..

When Cybertron was space bridged closer to the Earth it played merry Hell with the gravitational fields. For weeks afterwards the Earth was shaken by earthquakes, tsunamis ripped across seas that were as turbulent as the weather above them and volcanoes echoed the violent tides of the liquid rock beneath them. Every creature on the planet felt the effects of those fateful few minutes and for the apparently dominant species, mankind, the social and political upheaval was just as devastating. Recovery efforts were hampered by the political jockeying that was being done, endless arguments and debates about the pitifully few remaining Cybertronians getting in the way of constructive effort, as though those in charge would prefer to nit-pick useless might-have-beens instead of coming together to help those most closely affected by the devastation in Chicago.

But the Earth was not the only thing affected. The whole solar system teetered on the brink of destruction, even if the humans did not know it. Gravity is a powerful, yet fragile thing, and the cosmic dance every planet around our sun performed had been touched by that brief introduction of another planet. Minute changes in their courses occurred.

The moon tilted.

A part of our satellite that had never before known the fiery light of our sun was suddenly illuminated. That light fell not just on sterile lunar dust and rock, but also upon something that glinted in the unexpected light. Something that had a form that was becoming more and more familiar to the people of earth. As the light bathed the inert form an echoing glow seemed to slowly light it from within also. Gradually systems that had remained dormant for decades fired up as the passive solar radiation fuelled and woke the solitary figure. Awareness came and with it came the need to seek knowledge. While still gathering the strength to rise the figure reached out beyond and started to listen in to the radio waves that blanketed the nearby planet, learning and assimilating data. Time passed but it meant very little. There was only the learning and absorption of the life-giving sunlight. When all was well the figure stood, shaking lunar dust free of its almost delicate looking frame, and a finely sculpted cranial unit lifted to allow the optics to view the blue globe that hung nearby. Crouching slightly the figure dug toe-claws into the rock, and then in a shockingly sudden move leapt skywards. The initial propulsion was enough to take it beyond the moon's meagre gravity. Not so long later the Earth's gravity took over, and by then the figure had folded into a cometary form and was well prepared for the searing temperatures of re-entry.

Nobody was out in the punishing midday heat of the Arizona desert to see the meteor crash to earth. Seismic detectors picked up the impact, but by the time the investigators got there the hole was empty.


	2. Chapter 2

Solaris

Chapter One.

There were many things that Col. William Lennox was thankful for in his life. The beautiful ladies that he called his own, the close friends he had, the intensive training that had seen him through countless encounters with various things trying to kill him to name a few. Right at that very moment however, he had never been more thankful for the fact that the mainland NEST headquarters had an almost limitless supply of hot water. He was pretty sure it was going to take an hour just to clean the results of the latest Decepticon encounter out of his hair alone, and he did not have that much hair to speak of. Why that particular had chosen a waste transfer station to make its last stand Will would never know and he did not really care. He certainly did not appreciate the rather fragrant results of that fight.

Nor did anyone else at NEST HQ.

By popular demand it had been decided that his team should clean up before even thinking about having the debriefing. The Autobots had not fared much better with several of them complaining about how hard it was going to be to get the organic waste out of various portions of themselves, and Ratchet flatly refusing to allow any of the contaminated humans into his interior on the way back. The CMO cited reasons of hygiene and the fact that he was often called upon to carry injured people and did not want 'potentially harmful bacteria' getting on his insides. Privately Will thought this was an extremely lame excuse as the Autobot was never sterile to start with, but one did not argue with a medic, particularly one that weighed over a ton and was fully armed and willing to use his weaponry. Everyone had piled into the non-sentient vehicles for the trip back to base and gone directly to the shower or wash bays, depending on planet of origin. Will took the opportunity the privacy of his shower gave him to review the events and put the chaos of the battle into order within his own mind so that when he met with the rest of the team later he could run the debriefing coherently and be able to outline what needed to be done to improve without seeming to hesitate. Director Mearing would be sitting in on it as usual and could be like a dog with a bone at any signs of weakness or incompetence. Sometimes Will wished he could be just left alone to do his job, but he was a realist enough to know that pen pushers had to justify their existence somehow. Even if the ones making the decisions were not the ones who usually had an honest clue: The Autobots being ordered off the planet just before the Chicago mess what ample proof of that.

Finally clean he shut off the water and stepped out, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind and firmly closing the lid on them. It was over. There was no sense in again going over how helpless, how enraged and how utterly appalled he had been when he witnessed the Xantium get blown to bits by Starscream and believed the Autobots to be dead. That was in the past, through a well-executed plan of their own they had survived and come back to assist the humans who had up until that moment been getting their behinds handed to them. Will could hardly believe the politicians were still complaining that the Autobots had lied and had not in fact left the planet like they had promised they would… but that was politics for you. Ninety-eight per cent hot air and two per cent useful information. Checking his uniform was immaculate Will exited his on-base quarters and walked out into the main floor.

"I thought it was bad for you organics to immerse yourselves for so long."

Most humans would have jumped at the deep voice that issued from directly overhead but Will had long since become used to the quirks of his allies. Besides which, he was still too happy to have the intimidating weapons specialist alive to bother with even an irritated glance. "Worse to leave that crud on our skin big guy. God knows what was growing in that trash."

"Hmmm. Good point."

Ironhide fell into step beside the human as Will jogged across the cavernous main section of NEST Washington. Everyone had thought him dead after Sentinel's attack, none of them realising until it came time to clean up the mess that what they had thought they had seen – him deactivating and disintegrating into rust – had been nothing more than an advanced hologram the cunning old Prime had activated. He had been in stasis lock for days thanks to some sort of virus that had a limited lifespan in the Cybertronian systems, but when it came time to collect his 'remains' they discovered that he was almost completely unharmed except for the obvious blaster wound. Ironhide had come back online for find out that the Decepticon attack had failed, Cybertron was now completely lost to them, and that Optimus had taken out both Sentinel and Megatron, nearly getting slagged himself in the process. Ironhide was honest enough to admit that he was still 'pissed' as the humans would say that he did not get to take out a few 'Cons himself. Still, there was a lot of clean up left to do. Few of the remaining Decepticons had the processor power to work out that it would be a better idea to either leave, openly change faction, or hide somewhere very deep rather than try to get revenge for their fallen leader.

"Sir! Unidentified touchdown in Arizona!"

The call came from one of the control centres that continually monitored the globe for cometary forms dropping in, and Will veered over to that section to have a look.

"Anything on site?"

"Local sheriff called it in, went out to the crater but no sign of a meteorite, sir. He said the crater is huge, so there should have been something in there. "

Will grimaced and then gave a crisp nod. "Give the coordinates to the air field; we'll need a C-17 to drop us off. Alert team three, have them be ready to roll in twenty minutes."

"Yes sir!"

"Ironhide and I will go with you," Optimus said as he neared, having heard the call and come over to see what was happening.

With a wave over his shoulder to let the Prime know he had heard Will took off back to his quarters to gear up for another potential fight. If Optimus had not advised it was another Autobot dropping in then it was highly likely there were going to be hostilities. He just hoped it was not going to be in a rubbish dump again.


	3. Chapter 3

Lieutenant Jensen knew that any time NEST went after an unknown landing that things could and often did go south extremely quickly. This was the first time he had ever seen it go south for himself pretty much as soon as he jumped out of the cargo bay doors of the C17 they had flown to Arizona in though. It was a whole new level of 'we're freaking doomed' only it was on a personal level rather than a team level this time around. A veteran of many, many jumps Jensen had the feeling almost as soon as he left the plane that things were not right, but he was a little surprised at what happened. An errant updraft at just the wrong moment had effectively turned the parachute cords into one not-so-harmonious whole, just when they were supposed to have been individuals. The 'chute opened less than halfway and he plummeted past a rather startled looking Lennox at far greater speed than anyone could really wish. The only real thing that could be said to be successful about the whole thing was that he was going to get on the ground; that was one goal of a jump that would be fulfilled. He certainly was not going to be walking away from it though. Off course, spiralling wildly and about to smash into sun-baked rock there was nothing he could do to prevent what was going to be severe injury at best and agonising death at worst. Even the idea of relaxing into the fall was somewhat of a moot point in this circumstance. He glanced upwards, past the almost useless canopy, to the rest of the NEST team who were nearly a kilometre away, and realised they would have a bit of a hike to pick up his remains. He looked down at the weathered boulders he was about to fall amongst and muttered a quick prayer….

… And came to a bruising halt meters above the desert floor. Sheer disbelief robbed him of the ability to breathe for a second, then he gasped and wondered what the hell his parachute could possibly have caught on out here and he looked up. Holding on to the rig was a metallic hand, long digits tangled in the cords. Jensen blinked – he was sure he would have seen a Cybertronian on his way down – and then there was another hand beneath his feet supporting him from below as he was brought up to optic-level of the one who had caught him. He was somewhat relieved to see blue optics gazing at him from out of a finely angled face, a face that was somehow feminine and an unusual burned gold colour rather than the dark greys that he was used to from the other Autobots.

Training kicked in and Jensen activated his radio. "Uh… Sir? I think I found the new 'bot."

His voice was a little weak, but Jensen figured he could forgive himself that after coming so close to being a little smear on the landscape. The head, larger than his own torso, tilted slightly and the optics flickered in a manner that Jensen had come to know meant they were downloading something, then the one holding him spoke in a pleasant low voice. "There is no need for alarm little human. I will not harm you."

Jensen looked the figure over. More slender than most of the Autobots he had seen this one would have been around Sideswipe's height and was distinctly feminine in shape. Her armour was a deep, almost midnight blue except where sunlight danced across it and in those places it showed as a rich, sparkling sapphire colour. Unlike the other Autobots her protoform was all that same burned gold, darkening occasionally to burnished bronze in some areas. There was no faction symbol anywhere he could see, but on her brow rested a glyph – the same one that adorned the helm of Optimus Prime. For some reason, perhaps the lines and angles of her frame, she seemed almost feline to Jensen. He pulled himself together and released the parachute, which she then shook off the hand it was tangled around while holding him firmly in the other.

"Ma'am, thank you for saving me there. My name is Lieutenant Jensen. Would I be right in saying you are an Autobot?"

"You are correct, Lieutenant Jensen, and my designation within the bounds of your language would be 'Solaris', not 'ma'am'. "

"That was a term of respect," Jensen told her, remembering how literal the Autobots could be particularly when they first arrived.

Optics flickered again and then Solaris said "I understand. It is a term of respect towards the femmes of your race. Thank you, and forgive my misunderstanding."

"That's ok, you're only new here. Uh…. We really should go and meet with the others; they are a little concerned it's another Decepticon that has dropped in since the suits couldn't find any sign of a meteorite in the crater."

Solaris moved out from behind the boulders she had originally be standing behind and began to walk towards where the rest of the NEST team had landed. "Yes. I saw the 'suits' searching the area. They seemed quite perplexed but I deemed it better that I remain unseen as I am aware human kind on the whole are quite a young species and quite excitable about alien contact. "

Jensen nearly laughed at the understatement implicit in that comment but held it back. Solaris was rather formal and he was not sure how his laughter would be taken. It was as well she was taking them towards the rest of the group. Col. Lennox was far better suited to diplomacy than he was, and Optimus Prime was there as well. Not many beings could be as formal as that large 'bot when the occasion called for it. Or even when it did not, in Prime's case. The notion of relaxation seemed about as alien to Optimus as the Cybertronians were to your average John H. Citizen. Speculation about how, or even if, the Autobot leader ever 'let his hair down' was the subject of quite a few alcohol fuelled discussions at NEST.

They had reached the group by then, what had seemed to Jensen to be an easy stroll for the femme carrying him was obviously much faster than he thought. Solaris placed him on the ground and he approached Col. Lennox and saluted, replying that he was find to the commander's enquiry then turning to watch the scene play out between the Autobots and the newcomer. Optimus had moved out ahead of the other Autobots and Solaris stood relaxed before him, inclining her head in an easily recognisable gesture of respect.

"Optimus Prime, it is an honour and a pleasure to meet you. I am Solaris; I was aboard the Arc and thrown clear upon impact with this planet's moon. It was only recently that I came out of stasis and was able to come here to join you."

Will knew Optimus well by now, and he could read the slight confusion in the big mech's stance. It made him tense. After Sentinel's betrayal they were less inclined to trust anything that came acting friendly until true motives had been shown, and Will was not about to let healthy paranoia go to waste. A subtle gesture sent the rest of the NEST group moving to ready positions for if this situation suddenly went to the dogs.

"Solaris… I am not familiar with that name," Optimus said, studying the femme before him. She was unique, and judging from the lack of wear on her protoform was younger than her quietly assured manner would have others believe. She also bore the glyph of the Primes, and Optimus could feel the warmth that the Matrix always emanated become almost… yearning. He was sure he would have known if there was another Prime… He would have to tread carefully with this one.

"I would be surprised if you had Optimus," she replied. "My creator was extremely protective and kept me rather well concealed. "

"Who was your creator?" Optimus asked, curious as to who this young one was raised by. Whoever it was had to have wielded quite a bit of influence of Cybertron, as Solaris' form was made of rather rare alloys that would have been hard and expensive to get.

"He is dead," Solaris told him, her previously smooth voice going flat. It was obvious she had no desire to talk about it.

"My apologies," Optimus said quietly. "You are welcome to come with us, should you wish it. If not, we ask that you remain concealed from the humans. As you may have concluded, they are uncertain of us and our intentions."

"Except these who stand with you now," Solaris pointed out, looking down at the NEST soldiers spread around. She looked back up at the Autobot leader and said "My allegiance is to the Autobots Optimus. I will stand with you and these human allies you have. "

As Optimus began introductions Will looked around and wondered if he was the only one who had noticed that the newcomer had not said who her creator was. He also wondered why she had been on the Arc, the same vessel that only Sentinel had apparently survived the crash of and why suddenly she was coming to Earth. There were too many questions for him to be completely comfortable with this. On the way back he resolved that he would speak to Optimus about his concerns, knowing that others higher up than him would have the same worries.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews I have had so far on this story, and sorry about how long it has taken to update! I had intended to update while I was away with the inevitable bad weather that comes with holidaying in winter but the weather turned out wonderful so we were busy the whole time. No excuses – I was just out enjoying myself. Oh, and thank you to the person who pointed out I had spelled the Ark's name incorrectly. My only defence there was that I was trying to write with a three year old hanging around… Not so easy!**

**Anyway, onwards with the story! As always I own nothing other than Solaris herself and any random OC's wandering around. **

Solaris – Chapter Three.

During the trip back to the NEST Optimus tried to get a feel for the newcomer but the femme was unusually adept at avoiding answering direct questions. She seemed quite a young Spark yet there was considerable maturity in her. She was unreserved in her interactions with the humans, not displaying any of the concern that she may harm one of the fragile creatures that other Autobots had when told they would be working together, and seemed to be honestly delighted with the ingenuity of their allies. Sometimes she displayed an almost youngling-like joy of the utter difference of this organic world and yet when he approached her she became more closed off. Optimus there was no hint that this was a hostile reaction, nor did it seem to be the reaction he occasionally faced with the lower ranks of the Autobot army who did not think they were worthy of the Prime's time, so he was puzzled as to why this may be so. Solaris was unfailingly polite but held him at a distance. The Prime did not push it. It was her right to keep her origins to herself if she chose to do so. He had never been in the habit of judging anyone based on where they had come from or who their creator may have been and though he was just as curious as the next mech he would not breach the rules he held close to his own spark. It was another of the things that Sentinel had instilled in his student and though the old Prime had lost his way Optimus was not going to ignore his teachings. As a mech grown he knew that what he had been taught was right and though the pain of Sentinel's betrayal still lingered Optimus also knew it did not discredit the earlier work of the mech he had once looked up to. Sentinel had been great, once. Justice had been served and that to Optimus' processor was the end of the matter.

Or it should have been. Emotions were strange things and unfortunately the human race was a highly emotive one. They were afraid of further betrayal by the Autobots, afraid of further attempts at enslaving them, and that fear made them suspicious and fearful of stepping out of their traditional boundaries and comfort zones. Optimus knew the reactions of the media and general public had angered Will Lennox, but having the luxury of time on your side gave you a certain amount of perspective on these things. With time, the human race would work through the fear and begin the more important works of repairing and rebuilding – not the destroyed properties and infrastructure, but their lives and happiness which had been so cruelly torn apart. Of this Optimus was certain, for though the human race was a young species they had the resilience that was the legacy of all youth and they were strong. Such an event would not subdue them for long.

Entering NEST headquarters and seeing the scars on the wall from Sentinel's attack gave the Prime a fresh pang of sadness, and brought back the confusion he had felt in the days after they had defeated the Decepticons. Sentinel had appeared to betray them utterly; yet when he had the opportunity to destroy Ironhide he had not, instead staging an elaborate hologram to conceal the fact that he had only rendered the old weapons specialist unable to attend the fight. Why? Having driven into the massive main floor Optimus transformed and once again tried to accept the fact that he would never know. He had destroyed Sentinel believing him to be a traitor, the fact that his mentor may not have been and may have actually had a plan for defeating the Decepticons once and for all was troubling, but it was too late now.

Solaris had driven in behind him and transformed into her bipedal mode with haunting grace. "Even here?" She asked with surprising sadness, staring at the damage still to be repaired.

"Even here," Optimus confirmed heavily. "Here is where one of our own chose to show his true hand and betray us. It was the beginning of a very bad day."

He heard Lennox make a sound that could have been a choked off, slightly hysterical laugh at the understatement and glanced down to make an apology but the man waved him off. Well, humans often used humour as a coping mechanism so perhaps his comment had not been the wrong one to make.

"I am sorry," Solaris said sincerely. "I wish I could have… been here to assist."

Will did not appear to have noticed the slight hesitation in the femme's last statement as he said "Well maybe you'll give us a hand rebuilding. A lot of the other 'bots have volunteered and any help we can get is welcome."

Nodding in acceptance Solaris replied "I will certainly assist where I can, Col. Lennox."

"Great. Optimus, can you show Solaris where she can bunk down? I'm going to bed myself – reports and the like can wait until I've had some rack time and some coffee, otherwise they're not going to make any sense at all."

"Of course Will, you are overdue for recharge. I will handle the usual procedure."

The human NEST leader walked away, waving over his shoulder in farewell and absently dodging people as he headed to the human accommodation section of the base.

Optimus took Solaris to the Autobot medical bay to be checked over by Ratchet, who declared that other than a few minor dings and upgrades that she was in amazing condition. "What I don't understand, however, is how you can still have so much energy after such a long time in stasis."

Solaris tilted her head and her face plates lifted in amusement at the CMO's question. "Have you noticed the number and configuration of solar receptors in my outer armour?"

"Yes, of course. An unusual amount, definitely, and some in your protoform also which is quite unusual."

"I was built to be able to run exclusively on passive solar energy if required. A period of inactivity in a place exposed to solar radiation is enough to assist my own energon production."

"That was why you made touchdown in a desert region," Optimus commented, and the femme nodded in confirmation.

"I will show you to a place you can recharge," Optimus told her.

"I would like to study your collection systems in further detail later," Ratchet said. "If it is something that we can use to assist the rest of us it could be quite useful, if you have no objections."

"I have no objections Ratchet. Name your time and I will be available to you," Solaris replied with a nod before following Optimus out into the main section again.

Ratchet watched thought fully as the two left. He had concealed the fact that he had found a few other anomalies also; anomalies that were common only to those who were Primes. He had suspected that the femme had marked herself with the Prime glyph to increase her importance and possibly as a type of protection from others who may still respect that mark, but now he suspected that her Creator may well have been one of the Primes as only they would know what special and extra systems a Prime should have – such as those that allowed them to interface with the Matrix. He would wait until he had more definitive proof before he mentioned this to Optimus, but Ratchet was almost positive that Optimus was no longer the only living Prime. The femme was so young though, so who could possibly have created her? And when? There were no records of a femme by the name of Solaris being sparked by the Allspark before the War, Ratchet was sure of that. Optimus would have recalled such a singular femme he was sure, so she had to have been created in secret after the War began. No mean feat in itself with resources so rare, and then how did her Creator manage to get at the Allspark to have the sparkling frame Sparked? Ratchet needed more information, and even if the hordes of the Pit stood in his way, he was going to get it.

**Ok, I had no idea where this chapter was going before I wrote it, but here it is! Has anyone worked it out yet? ;-)**

**More action to come in the next chapter, so stay tuned! I promise it wont be as long between updates this time. **


	5. Chapter 5

-1**Thanks everyone for the reviews! I feel the love… really I do. **

**I own nothing except Solaris – and she's just a figment of my rather diseased imagination. Onwards once more to the good stuff!**

Solaris Chapter 5.

Col. William Lennox was often a man on a mission. A hero, some would call him. Others called him far less complimentary things. Yet he was still a man, and there were times when he missed his wife and little girl so much that it was nearly a physical pain being separated from them. During times of uncertainty it would creep up on him; not uncertainty in battle because there he was in his element and rarely lost for the correct action to take. No, for him uncertainty came in the realm of politics and intrigue that he was being pulled into more and more. He was a good man and it was hard at times for him to distinguish friend from foe when both hid behind smooth words and bland smiles. This night he had been driven outside by the constant nagging suspicion that their latest arrival was more than she appeared and that she held secrets which could be dangerous to them all. Troubled by suspicions that were completely without solid evidence but very real nonetheless Will found himself yearning for the company of his ladies and seeking solitude. Decepticons were popping up all over the place like mushrooms after spring rains; he just had to settle his concerns and mind if he was going to accept Solaris at their side in battle. So far he had found excuses to put Optimus off adding her to the active list, but that would not last much longer. Not when even Ironhide admitted the femme was a formidable opponent.

Candidly, Will had to admit that she would be a good addition to the teams. She seemed fragile, but the reality was she was far tougher than her appearance would have you believe. There was no problem with her working with humans either, as she was quite open in her admiration of the small species of which he was a part. Others within NEST had quickly come to like her for her calm courtesy and delight in their differing cultures. Always co-operative, Solaris even had Ratchet happy for once as the technologies she used to convert solar energy to Energon she freely shared with the old CMO. She seemed almost too good to be true. Maybe it was just his innate cynicism kicking in; after all, what were the chances really of having two beings of the same mould as Optimus Prime? Will shook his head. Not really that good, in all honesty. Sentinel Prime had seemed to be everything Optimus was, tempered with even greater age and experience, but he had turned out to be a murderous traitor. As the saying went: Once bitten, twice shy. Will was not as inclined to trust so easily when another Prime showed up no matter how good they seemed on the surface. Especially one who was so good at dodging questions about her origins.

"What a damned nightmare," Will muttered to the cool breeze.

"I am sure Ratchet could assist you if you are having trouble with your dreams, Col. Lennox."

The smooth voice from the deep shadows behind him startled him badly. Will had no idea anything was up on the roof with him and whirled, instinctively dropping lower and ready to run. Standing in the deep shadows cast by the huge air-conditioning cooler towers was the object of his concerns, almost completely hidden in the dark aside from the bright optics that gazed down at him. Will had not even seen them when he first came up here, how long had Solaris been standing behind him?

One lithe stride brought the femme beside him and she fluidly dropped to one knee to get closer, head tilting as she no doubt picked up on his accelerated heart rate. "I am sorry; I had no desire to frighten you. I thought you wanted solitude until you spoke."

Will drew a deep breath and let it out, firmly squashing the urge to chew the femme out for frightening the hell out of him. "I didn't know you were up here. How did you do that?"

"Camouflage hologram, and turning my optics off," Solaris replied, a bit of amusement creeping into her voice. "It is habit to conceal myself when I am … I think 'lost in thought' would be the expression you would use. War does not allow the luxury of believing you are safe, no matter where you are."

Nodding in agreement Will wondered just how open Solaris was feeling. He decided to push it a little and see where it got him. "Surely you were safe before the war though?"

"I was created after the war had begun, Col. From a very young age I was taught to conceal myself, and I had the hologram abilities long before most younglings are upgraded to such hardware. My Creator made a game of it; if I could remain hidden from him for a certain amount of time when he came back from his duties, I would receive a reward. My Creator could be very inventive at finding ways of making me learn things for myself."

The tone of mixed affection and sadness in the femme's voice when she spoke of her creator touched Will. As a father himself he wondered if his daughter would feel as much affection when she grew into a teenager and started to take command of her own life. His voice gentle, Will said "So who was your Creator?"

On the heels of that question an ungodly screech split the night and a black shape with blazing red optics dropped out of the sky straight at Will. With a startled yell the man dropped to the rooftop, but the Decepticon got nowhere near him as Solaris backhanded the creature back into the air. Never one to just lie around on the job Will jumped back to his feet, eyes tracking the trajectory of his attacker. He could see something that looked like a kind of demented cross between a fruit bat and a very large model airplane.

"Ratbat!" Solaris snarled, and picked up the human NEST leader, pivoting swiftly to place him under cover and ignoring the indignant sound he made as she did so.

Will did not argue when the thing… Ratbat… Came streaking back in with lasers firing. Solaris caught two shots square on her armour then took a long step out into the open and out of Will's sight. Will could hear the Decepticon flying at the femme, letting out a screech of rage, then the sound of a blade coming out and less than a second later one half of the flying 'con hit the rooftop nearby. Will heard the other part fall off in the distance, presumably near the gate. Red optics flickered and died as they stared malevolently at the human, and Will took a few running steps past it to check on the slender blue femme.

Solaris pivoted smoothly on one foot to face him, optics blazing almost blue-white. With feral grace she saluted with the double ended blade-staff she held. Curved slightly, the blades almost katana-like, the weapon was nonetheless familiar to him. Suddenly cold with dread Will realised he knew exactly who Solaris' Creator had been.

And with that realisation came the almost certain knowledge of why she had come to NEST.

**I promised action, so there it was! Hope you all enjoyed it. Has anyone worked out who Solaris' Creator is yet? **


	6. Chapter 6

**It's unusual for me, but here's a quick update! Thanks again to those who take the time to review this story, and to those who put it up in their favourites. I'm fairly new at this and the encouragement is lovely. **

**Now, on with the story.**

Alarms blared and powerful floodlights lit the NEST headquarters from every angle as the beings within the building became aware of the attack from above. Shouting echoed up from the gate where the other half of Ratbat had fallen and Will was getting ready to bolt away from the well armed Cybertronian before him when there was a very loud crash behind him and he pivoted to see Optimus Prime had shunned the elevator to leap from the ground floor onto the roof. Along with awe at the feat Will felt distinctly relieved that they had reinforced the structure so it could handle the weight of several Autobots on top of it. The Prime would have gone crashing straight back through to ground level if they had not. He saw some of the red and blue armour flare in what he had learned to recognise as shock and knew that Optimus had come to the same conclusions he had at seeing Solaris armed as she was.

The femme in question saluted the Autobot leader calmly with her blade, then subspaced it. "He appears to be the only one Optimus. He came from high up, where the Energon detectors could not alert us until it was too late," she reported. She then looked down at Will and added "Please forgive my abrupt handling of you Col. Lennox. I had no time to be more polite about removing you from danger."

Shock dropped Will's jaw, and he was thankfully spared the need to speak by Optimus walking closer and gazing down at the femme, his battle mask still engaged. "Who created your weapon, Solaris?" The Prime asked quietly.

Solaris tilted her head to meet his optics and replied. "My Creator forged it for me. "

"That is what I had thought," Optimus murmured, mask retracting. "And when were you going to tell us that your Creator was Sentinel?"

Will knew Optimus well and felt himself straightening at the tone in the Prime's voice. That was the tone of a deeply suspicious and angry Optimus, and for a second Will felt sorry for the femme; until he remembered that she was on the same space craft as Sentinel and most likely a part of the psychotic mech's plans. Will was concerned as Optimus was the only Autobot up here and he currently had his weapons subspaced. The Autobot leader may have been the stronger but Will had seen Solaris up against Ironhide and knew that she was faster. What were the chances she could get in a fatal strike before Optimus could get his weapons online?

Yet instead of reacting with aggression, Solaris' shoulders slumped a little and she softly said "I had been hoping to avoid that."

"So you could get away with more when the time came?" Will asked, keeping his voice bland.

Solaris looked down at him and shook her head. "No Col." She said sadly. "Because I knew that you would view me exactly as you just have if you knew. I understood as soon as I came here that my Creator's betrayal cut you deeply, but… I am not he. As much as it is unfair, I knew that the sins of my Creator would be laid at my feet, and I am saddened that I am now proven correct."

"You were on the Ark," Optimus stated, but Will noticed his voice had gentled. He was looking for an explanation and Will was then a little ashamed that he had jumped immediately to the most damaging conclusion. Where was his belief that people were innocent until proven guilty?

"I was," Solaris agreed. "I knew Sentinel had made some sort of pact with Megatron, but not what that pact entailed exactly. I disagreed with it. I could see what Megatron had become, and what he was trying to turn my Creator into. I spoke out against it to Sentinel, but … Optimus, I think his Spark had become darkened by the War and the destruction of Cybertron. He was no longer the Creator I knew, and he would not listen to reason. The logic of a youngling is logic nonetheless, but every time I thought I had made some difference Megatron met with him and suddenly it was as if I knew nothing. So I determined I would go with him, and try and change his mind – or stop him if I could."

That last was said in a low, reluctant voice. Her optics had drifted away from Optimus' during her comments and she looked back up at him, drawing her blade from subspace and handing it to the Autobot leader, her movements stately and completely without threat. "On my Spark, I had no knowledge of what he intended here. Optimus, I am sorrier than you can know for the pain my Creator has caused you, but I understand if you do not believe me. I understand too if you feel you cannot trust me around those you care for. I feel guilty that I did not realise what Sentinel intended in time to stop him, and for that the deaths of both Autobot and Humans are on my hands. I ask only one thing: If you are unable to let go of your distrust, then end my existence now. I will not live alone and despised."

Will's throat had tightened at the raw anguish in Solaris' voice. For Optimus however it was far worse; his very Spark cried out for the pain the femme was in, and he realised he could no longer ignore the yearning he had been trying to deny since the femme arrived. All Primes were kin, and the Matrix acknowledged her as a Prime so Optimus could no longer justify his denial. The very idea of ending Solaris' life horrified him also. He handed her weapon back, letting his energy field flow over hers soothingly as he did so. She carried enough of a burden in the form of guilt that really should not have been hers; she could not be permitted to believe that she was despised. "You are not responsible for the actions of your Creator," he told her, finally putting to rest his own feelings of guilt and betrayal as he spoke. "And I welcome you amongst us, for as long as you wish it Solaris Prime."

"So do I," Will asserted, stepping closer. At the surprised look Solaris turned his way Will had to shrug and give a wry smile. "Even we young species can grow up a little. Optimus is right; what Sentinel did had nothing to do with you. Besides, you have already saved my life and the life of one of my men; I can't ask for a better character reference than that."

Solaris gave both mech and man a deep bow and stowed her blade away. It was a nice feeling, to have companions again. Ever since Sentinel had started to consort with Megatron the love in her life had slowly waned as Sentinel became more and more engrossed in the plan that had eventually brought him to ruin, and she had been dreadfully lonely when the Ark had crashed and she had entered stasis on the Moon. She let her energy reach tentatively for that of the older Prime and felt his strength stroke her senses again. She had lost her Creator but perhaps she had found something just as precious.

The End.

**And that, my friends, is the end of 'Solaris'. I will be writing another, as there is still plenty to explore, but I need a bit of time to get a more coherent story line together than the one I have now. I hope you have all enjoyed what you have read so far! If anyone has ideas or things they would like to see in the next one, hit that little review button and let me know. ;-)**


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